Traffic operations in public walking spaces are to a large extent determined by differences in pedestrian traffic demand and infrastructure supply. Congestion occurs when pedestrian traffic demand exceeds the capacity. In turn, the latter is determined by a number of factors, such as the width of the bottleneck and the wall surface, as well as the interaction behavior of the pedestrians passing the bottleneck. This article discusses experimental findings of microscopic pedestrian behavior in case of bottlenecks. Results for both a narrow bottleneck and a wide bottleneck are discussed and compared to the results of an experiment without a bottleneck. It is shown how pedestrians inside bottlenecks effectively form layers or trails, the distance between which is approximately 45 cm. This is less than the effective width of a single pedestrian, which is around 55 cm. The layers are thus overlapping, a phenomenon which is referred to as the “zipper” effect. The pedestrians within these layers follow each other at 1.3 seconds, irrespective of the considered experiment. For the narrow bottleneck case (width of one meter) two layers are formed; for the wide bottleneck case (width of two meters), four or five layers are formed, although the life span of these layers is rather small. The zipper effect causes the capacity of the bottleneck to increase in a stepwise fashion with the width of the bottleneck, at least for bottlenecks of moderate width (less than 3 m). This has substantial implications for the design of walking facilities.

No abstract

To assess the design of walking infrastructure-such as transfer stations, shopping malls, sport stadiums, and others, as well as to support planning of timetables for public transit-tools to aid the designer are needed. To this end, microscopic and macroscopic pedestrian flow models can be and have been applied. To calibrate and validate such models, as well as to gain more insight into the characteristics of pedestrian flows under a variety of circumstances, detailed pedestrian flow data are required. Delft University of Technology has recently carried out experimental research of pedestrian flow. Described is the experimental design (such as determination of process variables and measurement), the resulting microscopic pedestrian data, and some initial results for the narrow bottleneck experiment. Both microscopic and macroscopic characteristics of the pedestrian flows are presented. Interesting first results pertain to the way in which the narrow bottleneck is used under saturated flow conditions, and the use of the space (or, rather, width) upstream of the bottleneck in case of congestion. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON PEDESTRIAN BEHAVIOR: STATE OF THE ARTThis section presents a brief and therefore nonexhaustive overview of some of the empirical facts in regard to pedestrian walking behavior and flow characteristics. These facts concern, among other points, the relation between walking speed and energy consumption, the factors influencing walking speeds, and the use of space by pedestrians. Other important features of pedestrian flows are discussed, such as self-organization and cooperation between pedestrians. Average densities for t = [0s, 120s] Average speeds for t = [0s, 120s] Average densities for t = [120s, 240s] Average speeds for t = [120s, 240s] Average densities for t = [360s, 480s] Average speeds for t = [360s, 480s] 28 Paper No. 03-3113 Transportation Research Record 1828FIGURE 4 Densities and mean speeds (in x direction) for narrow bottleneck example for different time periods during the experiment. Pedestrians walk from right (x ‫؍‬ 10 m) to left (x ‫؍‬ 0 m).

No abstract

No abstract